Originally reported by Bloomberg, is Saber Interactive being sold by Embracer Group? The American developer and publisher is home to various racing and driving games, including the MudRunner and SnowRunner titles (with Expeditions: A MudRunner Game released this week), and Dakar Desert Rally, along with previous titles including MX Nitro Unleashed, Road Redemption and the short-lived World of Speed.
Apparently a group of private investors are looking to acquire Saber Interactive in a deal worth around $500 million, with it becoming a private company employing roughly 3,500 people across 25 studios including Saber Interactive (MudRunner and SnowRunner), and presumably Saber Porto (Dakar). The Bloomberg report says that the deal includes an option for other studios to be part of a sale, so hopefully the future of Saber Porto could also be secured.
Originally founded in 2001, Saber was acquired by Embracer in February 2020 in a $525 million deal, and has since grown with studios including 34BigThings, Mad Head Games, and more.
Embracer Group has been undergoing restructuring and reducing debts since a $2 billion deal backed by Saudia Arabia’s soveriegn wealth fund fell through in the summer of 2023. This has included laying off more than 1000 employees across various studios and the closure of Volition Games. Having gone from 139 internal studios down to 132, Embracer Group has also cancelled 29 unannounced games across a six-month period in 2023.
Racing game publishers who would still be part of Embracer including THQ Nordic (Wreckfest and MX vs ATV Legends), and Plaion (MotoGP and RIDE, developed by Milestone, along with the upcoming GTRevival).
Hopefully it’s a deal which secures the future of the games, studios and employees currently within Saber Interactive, although much depends on the objectives of the private investors involved. The MudRunner/SnowRunner franchise has seemingly proved lucrative so far, but it would be good to see more Dakar and other racing games, especially after Desert Rally moved fairly quickly to just receiving quality of life updates at the start of 2024, having been released in October 2022.
And the cash might also alleviate some more issues for Embracer Group, which may help provide some security for the racing game developers and titles they still retain.
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